Friday, November 19, 2010

On Wednesday, we heard about an Ottawa-woman subjected to an illegal arrest and a beating by Ottawa police officers for no apparent reason at all. After being stopped while walking to a friend’s house, and then let go, Stacy Bonds …

… stopped and asked them why they’d stopped her in the first place.
That got her handcuffed, thrown in the back of a cruiser and spirited off to the police station, where police pulled her hair, kneed her in the back a couple of times, slammed her to the ground with a riot shield, cut off her clothes and bra while a few male officers watched, and strip-searched her.

The officer who used scissors to cut off this terrified woman's clothing and underwear? Officer Steve Desjourdy who had only four days before been temporarily demoted for repeatedly tasering and kicking a woman in a cell. The vicious assault on Stacy Bonds - who is black, giving the story even more disturbing overtones of racism - was videotaped in full. The officers involved and the Crown had to know that any claims that Bonds at any point resisted or assaulted her abusers were flatly contradicted by the video record showing a terrified and unresisting girl being horrifically abused. The Crown still chose to press charges against Bonds.

They apparently didn't expect the judge to actually watch the video.

Now, how big a moron do you have to be to pull a stunt like this? These cops are on video — which one assumes they are aware of, it being a police station and all — and they molest an innocent woman, then lay false charges, which can be easily disproved. Did they think Bonds would just go away and not mention the experience to anyone? Did they think no one would notice the video? Did they figure three male cops and one female cop was appropriate force to use against a lone, 100-pound female?

Or, being clearly of limited mental capacity, did they just figure the rest of the world was as stupid as they are?

The judge, rightly, denounced the whole episode, noting there was ”no reason, apart from vengeance and malice, to have left Ms. Bonds in the cell for a period of three hours and 15 minutes half-naked and having soiled her pants, before she received what is called a blue suit. That is an indignity toward a human being and should be denounced.”

Never thought I'd be approvingly quoting a Kelly McParland column but miracles do happen.

Officer Desjourdy must be fired. That's just the bare minimum for the Ottawa Police to restore the trust of the Ottawa public. Otherwise any Ottawa woman stopped by an officer would have to wonder if it's this vicious predator behind the badge.

Anybody else without a badge would probably be facing a long prison term for physical and sexual assault - why should a police officer be any different? Shouldn't the standards in fact be higher?

2 comments:

It took more than one officer to be involved for such an act to take place within a police station.The whole crew should be fired including the staff sergeant who ought to have known what was going on, and anyone who turned a blind eye suspended.Gone should be the days when police precincts can exact their own type of justice on people as they see fit.

Anyone, especially teens, of any race can be picked up it seems often under minimal circumstances and subjected to having their rights stretched or temporarily suspended through "arrest" and in this case - as witnessed apparently by the video - also criminally assaulted...likely for not speaking as nicely as the officer who had pulled her over for nothing wanted her too...which is not a crime.

Cops in Canada are a boys' club..they cover each others' asses and get away with more sordid shit than any joe citizen would ever dream of. I'd like to see some pigs tossed around and abused...but in a country full of Crowns who take bribe money and lawyers who keep dealers on the streets so that they can keep theircrack supply going, average joe will continually be porked by the pig population. Oh canada...we stand on guard for thee? Not on your life.

Working hard or hardly working? The sun is shining, my coffee is hot and a lazy sunday lies ahead of me And last night Rob Anders slun...

Cliff

My Political Compass reads -7.00 / -5.74 which means essentially a lefty libertarian. I've been a union activist and delegate, worked as a lobbyist in Ottawa and ran for office provincially in Alberta for the NDP. I've also worked as a journalist and editor and had fiction published.